LG G Flex 2 vs Nexus 6: Quick Comparison

This week at CES 2015 LG Mobile announced an all new smartphone coming to carrier shelves in the next few months, called the LG G Flex 2. Replacing the first curved and flexible smartphone that was released last year, the new LG G Flex 2 has a lot to offer along with a big 5.5-inch HD display. Here we’ll compare it to Google’s own Nexus 6 released back in November.

Google’s new Nexus 6 was announced in October as one of the biggest smartphones released in 2014 with a large 5.96-inch Quad-HD display and the latest Android 5.0 Lollipop. Now a few months later it’s available from almost all US carriers, and for those who skipped it to see what else was on the horizon, the LG G Flex 2 may be a device worth waiting for.

Last year the LG G Flex hit the market offering a large 5.7-inch screen that was curved, and could actually flex if sat on and such, and was rather interesting. It wasn’t the best phone released in 2014, but was still somewhat impressive, and now a new model is back to offer even more. Read on for more details about the new LG G Flex 2, and how it stacks up to Google’s own smartphone.

At this point most users should know plenty about Google’s Nexus 6 smartphone, but if not, we’ll go over everything it has to offer below. It’s a large 5.96-inch smartphone running the latest Android 5.0 Lollipop, and is quite the smartphone loaded with front facing speakers and more.

However, the LG G Flex 2 has a few neat features of its own, and has a very similar design and overall look and feel as the popular LG G3 released in 2014. The same sleek bezels to keep the device small despite offering a large display, button controls and volume rockers are on the rear of the device, and the entire device is a durable lightweight plastic with a faux brushed aluminum design.

Display

Last year the LG G Flex had a large 5.7-inch screen that was curved, but it only offered a 720p resolution. Here in 2015 though the new G Flex 2 is much improved, and after a quick hands-on with the phone we can tell you the screen is quite gorgeous. It offers a smaller 5.5-inch screen with a higher 1920 x 1080p full HD resolution, and doesn’t have any noticeable lines or problems from the screen being curved. It’s rather impressive.

However, the Nexus 6 has pretty slim bezels and a small design as well. Making this large 5.96-inch smartphone still somewhat small, shorter than the iPhone 6 Plus, and coming in very close in size to the new LG G Flex 2. The Nexus 6 and new G Flex are both very similarly sized, even though Google’s Nexus 6 has a larger 5.96-inch screen over the 5.5-inch LG offering.

Both have excellent colors, crisp text, and decent viewing angles, but the 2560 x 1440 quad-hd display of the Nexus 6 seemed better, and also easier to view at odd angles. The LG G Flex 2 screen was great straight on, but a few turns and you’ll quickly lose color saturation. The curve probably has something to do with that, but it isn’t too big of a concern.

In the end you’re buying it for the curved display. A screen that can also be bent if enough pressure is put on it, and it won’t break. The original was flexible, and the same can be said about the new LG G Flex 2. We wouldn’t recommend sitting on it or intentionally bending your phone, but you shouldn’t have bendgate problems like the iPhone 6 Plus.

Specs

While specs aren’t everything, the LG G Flex certainly has some impressive power under the hood that should make it a worthy competitor to most smartphones all year long, and it’s only the first week of January. LG equipped it with the latest 8-core 64-bit processor from Qualcomm, the first device with such a chip in the United States. Yes it has a 2.0 GHz Octa-core processor with 2GB of DDR4 RAM, 32GB of storage, and more. Here’s a quick comparison by the numbers.

LG G Flex 2 Specs

5.5-inch 1920 x 1080p Full HD Curved Display

2.0 GHz Octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor with 2GB of RAM (8 cores)

16/32GB of storage and micro-SD support

13 Megapixel OIS+ rear camera with laser auto focus, 2.1 front camera

Android 5.0.1 Lollipop with 64-bit support (thanks to Snapdragon 810)

3,000 mAh built-in battery with LG Quick Charge

Size: 149.1 x 75.3 x 7.1-9.4mm

Rear facing buttons

more

Nexus 6 Specs

5.96-inch 2560 x 1440 Quad-HD Display

2.7 GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 805 processor with 3GB of RAM

32GB/64GB internal storage

Android 5.0 Lollipop

13 Megapixel camera with OIS, 2 MP front camera (4k video capture)

Dual Ring Flash

Dual Front-facing speakers

Aluminum frame around device like the new Moto X 2014

Turbo Charger Support

3,220 mAh battery

As you can see both device have impressive top-tier specs, quality cameras, large battery options and more. Both have Qualcomm Quick Charge technology to boost charging, although each call it something different. It’s also worth noting the LG G Flex 2 is already running Android 5.0.1 Lollipop, although its certainly an early software build that’s no where near final. It was slow and buggy, but should be ready for primetime when the Q1 launch date arrives. Which is sometime from now to the end of March.

Final Thoughts

We haven’t had a chance to fully take the brand new LG G Flex 2 for a spin yet, but did manage to snag a few minutes of hands-on time here at CES 2015. It certainly has a lot to offer, and is one of the best looking phones I’ve held in some time. Once you hold it you’ll instantly enjoy the curved back in your palm, the buttons are easy to reach, the screen looks stunning, and the camera should be just as capable or better than that of the LG G3.

In the end the LG G Flex 2 is a curved, beefed up LG G3 running Google’s new Android 5.0.1 Lollipop update, to say the least. They didn’t change the design too much aside from bending the device, and it has a lot of the same design hues across the board. If you’re a fan of LG or the LG G3, the G Flex 2 should be a smartphone worth considering in early 2015.

We’ll see how it stacks up against the Samsung Galaxy S6 once it arrives, but for those who’d rather not wait Google’s 5.96-inch Nexus 6 is still a great phone, and readily available now from all carriers in the United States but Verizon.

One Comment

Stinky

01/19/2015 at 10:39 am

We all have not seen the LG G Flex 2 or as I call it LG G3 curve. So a review on this device will have to wait. But the Nexus 6 on the other hand I can. I currently own an lg flex. Awesome phone. I thought what the heck and preordered a nexus 6. I thought from the reviews it should be an pretty incredible phone. I got the phone and from day one it gave me nothing but problems. It lagged a lot. Had a very hard time with connecting to service. Always cutting out. Then the battery. It did not even last 6 hours. That was with normal use. So after 10 days of numerous trips to sprint and several calls to the service center. I took it back. Maybe I got Lemon or it was just a Big P.O.S. I placed old faithful( the flex )back in service. I would not recommend a nexus 6 to anyone. But if you like yours great. And the baby flex. That is a different story.